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'Donovans' Restored 1971 Mercedes 6.3 Litre 300 SEL

'The car to get you better known with your bank manager'

by Steve Barratt May 2006

I bought the car in October 2003 from a nearby dealer and Mercedes breaker named Ken he had the car for nearly 10 years, two years of which it sat outside as he ran out of money and time to work on it. When I bought the car it was in an ok condition for its year, considering its hard life which became apparent as I learned more about its previous life during the restoration which spanned two years. The other previous owner after Donovan also had it for quite a while, but again it was left outside unused for about three years. Looking back on it like most large projects it is often very hard to see how much work has to be done to see it through thoroughly.
I had seen the car at Ken’s in 1996 when I visited him for the first time to buy a part for the door mirror on my 123 estate car.
We got talking and he showed me the 6.3 at that stage I knew nothing about them, but was surprised Mercedes had made a car with such a large engine. I was also interested that Donovan was the original owner. I moved back to London a few months later. In 2000 I moved back to Devon, and visited Ken in 2001 again for some spares for my 123 estate. He said he had tried to sell the 6.3 for some time, again at that time I did not think a great deal about the car.
In October 2003 I thought about trying to reduce working so much on my property maintenance business and came up with the idea of buying the 6.3 and hiring it out for weddings etc. I made enquiries about the car with regard to how expensive certain works would be, and how available spares were, after a while I decided to buy it from Ken. I was aware that these were expensive cars to work on. My original intention was to get the car up to a reasonable condition and then use it for wedding hire work etc.
One thing that cannot be stressed enough is that these cars are horrifically expensive to work on. I financed the restoration by remortgaging and switching some other borrowed monies around to achieve a lower rate of interest. I have been told that these cars were double the cost of a Rolls Royce in 1970, although I have never got around to checking this information. They are one of if not the most expensive saloon car Mercedes have made. They are also quite complicated and in general difficult to work on mainly due to the very cramped engine bay. It never ceased to amaze myself the cost of most of the spares, in general most Mercedes parts are good quality but likewise some parts were ridiculously overpriced, and only available through Mercedes not the companies that make them for Mercedes. However in all fairness to Mercedes I would guess that this applies to other manufacturers as well.
As I progressed I began to see that if I were to go full out on the car then I would have something very good and quite rare.

I have partly restored a car before (Rover 3.5 P5B) but that was far easier and I was younger without so many responsibilities. The main point with any restoration and in particular these cars is not to let the frustration of locating spares or suitable people to carry out specialised work get you down…yes easier said than done. Anybody thinking of restoring one of these cars should be fully aware as I have said before that they are very expensive to work on. It is best not take on one of these cars unless you are technically minded are good at working with your hands, can think around problems, whilst being very patient in locating spares. If of course you have a never-ending source of monies you could hand the whole car over to a decent restorer….after you find one!. Having said that though if you want to get everything perfect then like most things in life you have to keep your finger on the button meaning you must be fully involved, and not have romantic thoughts of driving along on a summers day in the finished car with everything done without putting in the hard work, or expecting someone else to sort out every last detail. The other thing is not to push people who are carrying out different jobs for you, I hear this so often, people get so impatient and seem to loose sight of the bigger picture of getting a really good job done as opposed to an alright one due to them insisting on speed. Although I do very much pay attention to detail likewise I do look at the bigger picture and this is important not to focus and get bogged down with minute details that are not important.

The start of work

The first job I completed on the car was to take out the heater matrix and replace the blower motor.

The heater matrix

This job turned into a real epic and is considered quite a large. The taps on the heater radiator had both seized, three control cables had snapped, and the foam in the matrix box, which stopped the heater flaps banging, had perished. I managed to locate the black foam, keeping it all original, and a second-hand heater matrix again this came from a 6.3, which came from Monte Carlo. I do like to pay attention to detail and the foam in the matrix was virtually identical to the original in thickness and texture.

In order to inspect the engine bay and carry out work on the engine it obviously had to be taken out. With the engine out I completely stripped the engine bay removing all the air pipes and air chambers. Apart from removing the rear axle as this was all ok and had been replaced in the past, or removing the prop shaft everything else was stripped out. At this stage I sent the car off on a Transporter to a local body shop to have the entire engine bay repaired and re-sprayed, there had been some poor repairs over the years and corrosion which was visible with everything removed. When I say I had the engine bay repaired I did ask that all the original bodywork lines were put back in again, not just plates welded in. Yes this cost a fortune but my aim was now to bring this car as near to when Donovan bought it new from Stuttgart in 1971.

The engine during rebuild.

Many thanks go to Mike Hill of Hills Motors for his engine bay and other body works. Removing the engine and gearbox on these cars is something a lot of people fight shy of, mainly due to the large combined weight of approx 830lb and the amount of dismantling.

Start of work on the engine bay

The completed engine bay.

I look back and laugh about it now but one of the hardest things in removing the engine was chiselling through the exhaust down pipes as close to the manifolds as possible as they were so seized. With the engine out I took the manifolds off and had to have the chiselled off down pipe stubs heated up with an acetylene torch and hit off with a club hammer. When the car came back it started to look like it was taking shape in a small but evident way.

I started replacing all the air pipes. I used copper nickel pipes instead of the green painted steel Mercedes ones, and yes I know these are not original but I really wanted corrosion free air pipes. Some of the air pipes had been replaced over the years but it was obvious that they were not bent into the correct shape. This created another problem, as I had no pattern to get the new ones made. Andy Coultar a Mercedes breaker and dealer managed to get some old rusty pipes taken off another 6.3 and sent to myself so that I could use them as patterns. I ended up doing a lot of business with Andy. These air pipes in places were near on impossible to bend with extremely tight bends. Everything else that was replaced was with original parts. The front air valves that I replaced came off the 6.3 from Monte Carlo. The original ones were virtually totally worn out. Again bending some of these very acute pipe curves was very difficult. I replaced nearly all the central locking servos. I also spent quite a bit of time on the instrument cluster changing over and repairing different items.

Most people get frightened with the Mercedes air suspension, they often go out and buy at enormous cost new front and rear air valves and the car still goes down after a day! If you start working on the air suspension you must replace the rubber o-rings on the various joints, not just reuse the old ones. Likewise the air chambers must have good seats for the rubber bellows to sit on and not corroded surfaces.

Air chamber and bellows before and after.

Finished front Mercedes air suspension

I also replaced the engine and sub frame mounts along with nearly all the rubber parts on the car ranging from grommets, to bump rubbers, air reservoir mounting rubbers, shock absorber boots, splash panel seals etc
The rear shelf on the car had two holes roughly cut out to make way for non-original speakers years ago. Andy was able to help again as I asked for sections to be cut out of another 6.3 so that I could have these welded in and the shelf recovered in the thin sound proofing felt, this felt had to be ordered from Mercedes in Germany, through J Haynes. I ended up replacing much felt in the car all with original Mercedes ones. I had the shelf remade with the original piping sewn through the hardboard as Mercedes had originally done.

Larger Costs

On first inspection I did not plan to spend too much money on the engine, which had just had a new timing chain put in it. When I took the engine out and put it onto a pallet to send off to David Taylor in Bradford to have the exhaust studs and oil seals replaced I fairly quickly got a phone call from him telling myself of a shattered piston and excessive bearing wear. It was at this stage that the monies and time rocketed up. We used Hindle Reman of Bradford who have been around for approx 80 years, and are considered to be first class engine reconditioners. David was to play a key part in the overall restoration. Many many thanks to him for all his hard, honest, knowledgeable work. This meant sending the engine to him at Bradford and then the body after I had fitted up all the Mercedes air suspension and other steering etc.
Nearly all the exhaust studs had corroded into the aluminium heads and some had snapped off. This often puts people of buying these cars, as it can be very costly to have the heads, studs removed and then refitted. The studs are fairly cheap, it’s the labour cost of replacing them that normally puts people off. These were all removed, all the cylinder linings were replaced, with both banks ground off, the crankshaft was reground, valves reground, valve springs and, stem seals replaced.
The Pistons were ok apart from the broken one, this proved to be yet another headache as Mercedes in their wisdom had decided to replace the existing pistons with another type which was a different weight and had one less piston ring. Basically it would have meant replacing all the pistons (and not being original). I spoke to Keith (parts manager) of J Haynes who managed to locate one from a contact in Germany, the contact had the piston on the shelf for over 10 years and was sent over. A special thanks to Keith at J Haynes who really was very helpful. Hindles removed all the piston rings and inspected them for wear fortunately these were ok.
With everything back together I now had an excellent engine tight as when it left the factory. The exhaust was replaced with a genuine Mercedes one including a flexible balance pipe, which was missing when I bought the car.
When first turned over the engine needed two batteries twined together to get it turning over.
The water pump was not that old so that was cleaned and painted, I had all the diodes In the alternator replaced, even though most were ok, the starter was stripped and inspected after blast cleaning. Bosch had overhauled the injection pump some years before I bought the car.

Both front and rear windscreens were replaced, with of course the rubbers and clips along with the quarter light rubber. Both quarter light assemblies were also replaced as the corrosion turned out to be quite severe when they were removed. Getting hold of two decent secondhand ones was extremely difficult.

The Distributor was overhauled and new plug caps were fitted to the H.T leads.
All rubber hoses were replaced, along with engine belts. The radiator was sent of to Glasgow to be re-cored.

During the rebuild, I used all Wurth nuts, bolts and washers, as well as their jubilee clips, again using all German parts from Mercedes. I had most parts blast cleaned before being primed and re blacked, i.e. front roll bar, all brake back plates, fuel pump shroud, odd brackets, gearbox support bracket, brake servo, air chambers, front bumper strengthening, all bumper brackets etc. I dismantled both front and rear bumpers waxing them totally when I re assembled them. I bought a new interior strengthening for the rear one along with a new exterior rubber, and second hand rubbers for the front. The various smaller items I decided to soak in a bath of acid to remove corrosion. I had the original brake callipers rebuilt and bought new discs, and bearing seals on the front. I replaced all brake pipes and waxed over them. I decided not to strip the front wishbones and kingpins as they had been replaced a few years before and kept well greased, basically there was nothing wrong with them. I black waxed the front wishbones and kingpins so that it provides good protection in the wet. The track rod arms were stripped and blast cleaned I greased all inside the threads and outer on the ball joints on re assembly. I sent away the steering box away to have properly reconditioned, fitted various new ball joints and rubber boots, along with a new brake master cylinder.

Work on the body.

The completed engine bay.

A lot of engine ancillaries, and pipes I cleaned and clear lacquered to retain the original finish. All the box sections and underbody were also black waxed.
Andy Coultar located excellent quality second-hand Michelin XWX tyres, these were the original tyres fitted to the car and are approx £230 each new! These tyres fitted they should with the metal valves not standard rubber ones.
While the engine was being rebuilt I had the car taken up on a Transporter to David in Leeds. At this stage I had rebuilt all the Mercedes air suspension, and located two rear doors from a 6.3 originally from phoenix USA. These I stripped and had blast cleaned and then sprayed before I fitted them back up. I black waxed the inside of all the doors. David was then to finish nearly all the bodywork, respray and refit the engine. While the car was with David I made sure that anything he needed was sent to him, and again a special thanks goes to Keith Brown at J Haynes for his efficient on the ball service. David also removed the sun roof cassette and replaced the hardboard lining.

The removed sunroof cassette.

At this stage I had located some replacement woods for the top of the dashboard and around the doors. I understand that some of this originally came from a car 6.3 in Hong Kong. I had also located a complete set of excellent quality locks (all keyed the same) from a dealer in Baltimore USA.
Parts of the front bumper again came from the Arizona USA car.

Particular attention was paid to all the clips, grommets, and screws in the engine bay and the entire car. This was very tedious and involved many phone calls to different people to establish what types of screws etc were used, again Keith from J Haynes was extremely helpful in supplying the relevant spares.

I visited David twice while the car was with him and on the second visit dyed all the leather and vinyl trims, again this took ages. On the back of the drivers seat Donovan had stuck a ‘cosmic wheels’ sticker named after one of his albums, so I decided to dye around the sticker as it is part of the cars history. I had the car re headlined, and the leather on the door panels taken off and put on new hardboard panels by Ian and Simon of Aldridge Trimming this time I fitted decent plastic door membranes to stop the damp warping the hardboard again. The panels were put back on with new clips. A new carpet was made for the boot, and new side panelling purchased from Mercedes.

I managed to get together two excellent sets of headlamp assemblies making them up from four different sets. I re-silvered these and clear waxed all the different components before I fitted them into the wings all the headlamps were replaced and backs waxed, along with replacing the rubbers covering the wires under the wings.

Looking good
The wood was sent off to a specialist who I have reliably been told is the best around, it all came back fantastic, many compliments of the interior are regarding the wood, so many thanks to Nick Martin of City Polishers. Compliments are also of the leather, and of course the new headlining from Terry Pickering of A S Pickering Ltd.

I had the rear door handles re-chromed by Philip Lefelle of London Chroming Company. I last used this company back in 1982 and they are still excellent.

I have summarised the work carried out, there was an enormous amount of time and monies spent locating many odd fiddly parts, visiting an engineering works to get a new speedometer cable housing made. Many many hours on the telephone locating spares, and hundreds of hours of my time, posting off and assembling different parts.

I met Donovan in June of last year (2005) with David, where he had a drive of the car, and photographs taken. Donovan is a really decent bloke he told myself that George Harrison from the Beatles and Bobby Whitlock from Derek and the Dominoes have also travelled in the car. Donovan was genuinely keen to see the car, he gave off a friendly vibe…the type of person you could invite to your church anytime!

During the restoration I acquired the original Mercedes sales brochure, and a service manual which I bought from Australia, along with the original German oval shaped number plates and a photograph of the car parked next a Rolls Royce used by the Beatles. I have the original green logbook, with obviously Donovans name in it. I also have the service and handbooks in there wallets most MOT’S and tax discs for the car…along with some new toothpicks in the glove box which were used by Stewart (Donavons chauffeur and tour manager). Donovan also used the car in one of his promotional videos ‘Yellow Star’ of which I have a copy. The car also came with the Mercedes air suspension spacers, which are used as an emergency if the Mercedes air suspension fails, also the tool kit in its roll, and the wheel wedges.

Rear view

Interior view

Donovan and Stewart (his brother in law) and chauffeur, told me of the days they used to drive the car from Donovon’s surrey home or near by pub to catch last orders at the hard rock café in London, at speeds around 110mph + where possible.

I have been told it is now one of the best examples of this now rare and increasingly fashionable among the wealthy model Mercedes in Europe
Apparently there were approx 650 of these cars made in right hand drive, and that there are only a few worldwide in a properly restored condition.

Donovan chose an ivory colour steering wheel, with quite a plain wood dashboard and trim finishes, which go together very well. The ivory colour steering wheel is definitely different from the normal black. I was told that I purchased the last ivory steering wheel from Germany.

I have the original radio fitted, which Donovan chose with single mono speaker in the dashboard. This original speaker was nearly impossible to find but I did eventually find one after ten months of looking. The speaker came out of an overseas car although I cannot remember where from.

Having read all this people may think I’m a die-hard string vest wearing live and breathe
Enthusiast on these cars who is heavily involved with the club.
The truth of the matter is I approached this project from a keeping original efficient engineering point of view. I am a single parent running my own small Business who has unfortunately little time to get involved with outside club activities. Yes quite cold and unromantic I know but I was determined to concentrate on getting things done correctly and dealing with decent people during the restoration.

Some others in the trade and myself do think that these cars are a bit boxy looking. But like all cars they have their good and poor points. When all said and done though these are impressive looking classic cars and in general though they are and will remain one of the great classic Mercedes saloons ever made from a by gone era. The late 1960’s and then 1970’s when we had the benefits of post war technology (yes I know we had the electricity strikes) and the fun sometimes simplistic outlook on life and fashions! Which made it a golden era before the button pushing age and more aggressive times took over.

When you sit in the car and drive it you certainly do get the 1970 big V8 high acceleration vibe from this huge engine, with the thought that the original restoration gives you the feeling that Donovan and George Harrison amongst others would have experienced all those years ago.
I presently have the car registered with different car hire agencies for possible film /video work.

Ready for hire.

Donovan with the car again after many years.

Donovan behind the wheel.

Donovan with his brother in law Stewart Lawrence.

Myself and Donovan.

Myself and David Taylor who did much work on the car.

 

Many thanks to the people below who helped in the main building of JMO 9K

Donovan and Stewart - For taking the time out of a busy concert schedule to see the car, myself and David

David Taylor - For all your dedicated, knowledgeable, friendly and honest work
The Bodyshop
Unit 2
Dudley Street
Dudley Hill
Bradford
BD4 9PG

David Seed - Who also greatly helped with the engine rebuilding.

Peter Thorpe - Who helped with the rebuilding and fitting up.

Tim - For all the electrical work

Darren - For your help with the spray work

Andy Coultar - For all you help with the spares.-Contact 07710 552220

Mike Hill - For all bodywork
Hills Motors
14 Fore Street
Kingsteignton
Newton Abbot
Devon
TQ12 3AS

Keith Brown - For being so helpful, friendly and on the ball with all the spares
John Haynes
Eirene Garage
Mulberry Lane
Goring By Sea
West Sussex
BN12 4RD

Julian Larkin - For supplying hard to locate spares
Boss Mercedes Spares
54 The Boyle
Barwick-in-Elmet
Leeds
LS15 4JN

Nick Martin - For the excellent invisible repairs and finish on all the wood
City Polishers Ltd
156 Broadgate
Weston Hills
Spalding
Lincolnshire
PE12 6D

John Wilson - For your help in the work carried out on the engine
Hindle Reman
Caledonia Street
Bradford West Yorkshire
BD5 OEL

Steve Rocket - For your quick efficient collection and deliveries of all the grit blasted items.
Rocket Blast Cleaning
Exeter Road
Kingsteignton Newton Abbot
Devon

Ian and Simon - For all you’re trimming work
Aldridge Trimming
Drayton Street
Wolverhampton
WV2 4EF

Philip Lefelle - For an excellent chroming of the rear door handles
London Chroming Co Ltd
735 Old Kent Road London
SE15 1JL

Alan Abraham - For the many hours put into the air pipes
Flexihose
Unit 8
Rydon Industrial Estate
Kingsteignton
Newton Abbot
Devon
TQ12 3SJ

David Edwards
Ian Ryder
Paul Grantham - For your speedy helpful friendly service with the spares and numerous nuts and bolts!
Mercedes Benz
Matford Park Road
Marsh Barton
Exeter
Devon
EX2 8FD

For reconditioning the power steering box
Kelly Bray Steering
Florence Road
Callington
Cornwall
PL17 8EF

Martin - For making a new speedometer drive cable housing
C+O Engineering Unit 11
Watermota Works
Abbotskerswell
Newton Abbot
Devon
TQ12 5NF

Bill Richards - For reconditioning the alternator and electrical checks
Auto Electrical
Oak Place
Newton Abbot
Devon
TQ12 2EX

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